Preglazed sliding panel



Feb. 4, 1969 ,w. J. HoRGAN; JR

PREGLAZED SLIDING PANEL Filed NOV. 14, 1966 FIGJ FIG. 2

INVENTOR. WILLIAM J- HORGAN JR.

ATTORNEYS FIGJ United States O 3,425,163 PREGLAZED SLIDING PANEL William J. Horgan, Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to PPG Industries, Inc., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Nov. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 594,140 US. Cl. 49-425 4 Claims Int. Cl. E05d 13/02, 15/06; E06b 13/02 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This relates to a sliding glass panel comprising a pair of glass sheets connected together to form a hermetically sealed multiple glazed 'unit, a spacer member closing at least one side of said unit, said spacer member havingz- La portion thereof inset from the adjacent marginal edges of the glass sheets a distance sufiicient to receive and retain an operating wheel assembly and an operating wheel member mounted in said inset portion of said spacer member.

This invention relates to multiple glazed panels, and in particular to an improved multiple glazed panel assembly for sliding glass door and window installations.

The subject matter of the present invention in general relates to the subject matter of copending application Ser. No. 593,825, filed Nov. 14, 1966, entitled, Sashless Sliding Panel, by the present inventor, now abandoned; and wherein there is disclosed a sashless multiple glazed sliding door composed of a pair of spaced glass sheets that are adhered by a mastic material to a metal edge. frame and wherein a portion of the lower or bottom edge frame member is inset from the marginal edge of the door a distance sufficient to receive and retain an operating wheel assembly.

As disclosed in the aforesaid copending application, known prior art constructions of multiple glazed sliding panels consisted of a multiple glazed unit surrounded by suitable gasket material and mounted within a relatively heavy, metallic sliding frame or sash assembly. The sliding frame assembly was comprised of a head rail con-' nected by a pair of vertical stiles to a sill rail. The sill rail provided a suitable housing or mounting means for securing individual wheel members or an operating wheel assem'bly. An example of a typical prior art sliding panel assembly is disclosed in US. Patent No. 3,114,944- to the present inventor and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

The multiple glazed units which were employed in said prior art multiple glazed sliding panels were comprised essentially of two or more sheets of glass spaced one from the other to provide an insulating air film or airspace therebetween. In one known form of construction for multiple glazed units, a continuous fusion weld joined the spaced sheets along their marginal edge portions to form a hermetically sealed unit. In a second known'form of construction, metal spacers were adhered to the glass sheets along their marginal edge portions either by means of an adhesive or mastic sealing compound and a peripheral clamping framework was placed around the marginal edges of the thus assembled glass sheets. Generally, the metal spacers were hollowed out to contain a desiccant composition or a separate desiccant container was provided in addition to the metal spacers. The desiccant container was provided with openings or diffusion plugs permitting the desiccant to absorb moisture from the air film trapped between the glass sheets. The a'bove-described forms of multiple glazed units are fully disclosed in US. Patents Nos. 2,999,036 and 2,684,266. The present invention is primarily concerned with multiple glazed sliding panels having essential features of both of the multiple glazed units mentioned hereinabove.

The improved multiple glazedsliding panel of the present invention is a self-contained, self-supported, sliding, multiple glazed unit. By a self'contain'ed and/or selfsupported sliding multiple glazed unit is meant a sliding multiple glazed. unit that neither has nori'requires an independent surrounding framework or sash for the purpose of retaining and supporting the glass and giving rigidity to the structure. Thus, the sliding panel of this invention is devoid of the gasket material and the usual heavy sliding metal frame that surrounded the multiple glazed units employed in prior art sliding panel assemblies.

The'novel multiple glazed panel of this invention is of sturdy construction, presents a clean and uninterrupted sight line, and eliminates the added cost of glazing, gasket material and the sliding metal frame typical of known sliding panel construction.

In addition, the novel glass panel of this invention is designed and constructed to substantially increase the total vision area through the panel and %to minimize the amount of exposed metal upon which condensation would potentially form during exposure to inside and outside ambient temperature differentials encountered in normal installations. ,3

These and other features and advantages of this invention will be better understood when reference is had to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a preferred embodiment of the multiple glazed sliding panel of the present invention; 7

FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along the line IIII of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken along the line III-III of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a preferred embodiment of a novel multiple glazed sliding panel 10 of the present invention, comprising a multiple glazed unit 12 and wheel members or wheel assembly 14. The multiple glazed'sliding panel is mounted within a fixed frame assembly which borders an opening in a bpilding wall and comprises a header 16 providing an ripper guide channel for the panel, a threshold or sill providing a lower rail or track for the panel to slidef therealong and a pair of vertical jam b members 20. 'f

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the multiple glazed unit 12 of this invention is comprised of a flat tubularshaped glass unit having its open ends enclosed by two metal spacers 26 and 28. The flat tubular-shaped glass unit is comprised of two sheets of glass 22 spaced one from the other and having two of their opposed edges fused or welded together to form fusion welds or joints 24. i p

When large multiple glazedunits are employed, such as in sliding glass doors, the glass is ordinarily required to be tempered. Generally, tempered glass does not lend itself to fusion welds and closely spaced glass sheets which are partially or completely enclosed by a fusion weld cannot thereafter be tempered by usual heat treatment and quench processes. Thus, the disclosed opened end tubular shape is employed in this embodiment to permit tempering the glass sheets by the more recently developed processes of chemical tempering. Such a process is disclosed in US. patent application Ser. No. 426,676, filed Jan. 19, 1965 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows multiple glazed tubular unit llwith'its upper end closed by a metal spacer 26 and its lower end closed by a channel-shaped metal spacer 2 8. Metal spacer 28 has a web portion 27 and flanged leg portions 29 which provide a housing for operating wheel assembly 14. Web portion 27, as shown, is recessed or inset from the adjacent outermost marginal edge surfaces of tubular unit 12. A structural adhesive material 30, of known composition, seals the metal spacers within the open ends of the multiple glazed unit to provide a hermetically sealed unit. Metal spacer 26 and metal spacer 28 are hollowed out to contain a desiccant composition 32. Small apertures 34 or other suitable openings are provided to communicate closed space 36 with the desiccant composition, thereby permitting the desiccant to absorb any moisture contached to one side edge of the panel by a structural adtached to one side edge of the panel by structural adhesive or the like to provide an insect seal between itself and an adjacent sliding or fixed panel.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations and variations in the nature and arrangement of the elements of the disclosed construction are possible without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim;

l. A sliding glass panel comprising a pair of glass sheets arranged in spaced, face-to-face relation and connected together along two opposite longitudinal sides thereof and having spacer members closing the two remaining sides to form a hermetically sealed multiple glazed unit, at least one of said spacer members having a portion thereof inset from the adjacent marginal edge of the glass sheets a distance suflicient to receive and retain an operating wheel member and an operating wheel member mounted in said inset portion to thereby provide a self-supported, self-contained sliding glass panel.

2. The sliding glass panel of claim 1, wherein said one of said spacer members has a desiccant chamber formed therein and desiccant material is present in said chamber.

-3. The sliding glass panel of claim 1 wherein said pair of glass sheets are fused together along said two opposite longitudinal sides thereof.

4. A sliding glass panel comprising a pair of glass sheets connected together to form a hermetically sealed multiple glazed unit, a spacer member closing at least one side of said unit, said spacer member having a portion thereof inset from the adjacent marginal edges of the glass sheets a distance sufiicient to receive and retain an operating wheel assembly and an operating wheel member mounted in said inset portion of said spacer member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,680,269 6/1954 Watkins 49425 X 2,684,266 7/1954 Englehart 52l72 2,702,925 3/1955 Balboni et al 49410 X 2,708,774 5/1955 Seelen 52616 X 3,324,597 6/1967 Rich 49-425 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,095,475 12/ 1960 Germany.

984,131 2/ 1965 Great Britain.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

J. KARL BELL, Assistant Examiner.

US. 01. X.R. 

